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MD.45: The craving

21/10/10 || revenant

For those who have never heard of this album before, MD.45 was a side project formed in 1996 involving Dave Mustaine, Lee Ving, Jimmy DeGrasso and some other cunt I’ve never heard of. The name MD.45 comes from Dave Mustaine’s initials reversed, followed by his IQ, again reversed. Ok, not really, the 45 comes from Lee Ving’s initials reversed, which equates to 45 in Roman numerals. I like my definition better though.

Now mentioning Dave’s name in the introduction probably will give a misconception of what type of music this record contains. Think is a punk album. Yes, I know Megadeth have, to a minor degree, delved in the area of punk to a small degree in the past (with their Sex Pistols covers as well as punk influences creeping into their songs), but this album represents a large step away from the music of Megadeth.

The remaster does, though, contain one song originally demoed Megadeth in “The Creed”. I have to say this is a strange inclusion on the album. True, it doesn’t fit the typical Megadeth sound (perhaps why it was not used for them), but nor does it fit with the rest of the album here. It’s a song that sits somewhere with neither band’s sound, yet is actually the best song on this album.

No doubt you would have noticed I very specifically titled this article “2004 remaster”. Apparently, when Dave went to remaster this album in 2004, it turned out that the vocal and harmonica tracks were lost. Rather than ring up his good mate Lee and ask him to redo it, Dave decided instead to re-record the vocals himself and replace the harmonica parts with guitar fills. Now I don’t have the original album, but from what I have heard of the original recordings with Lee Ving on vocals, he is no great loss (in fact, he sounds a hell of a lot like Blaze Bailey in my opinion. Yes, that fucker). But I do have the remaster, and let’s face it, Dave’s vocals are no great gain either. But, as someone who has listened to Megadeth for over twenty years, I am well and truly used to the nasally whine that is Dave’s singing, so when it comes to MD.45, I’ll take Dave over Lee.

Vocals aside, the musicianship on this album is great. I was a bit unkind in the intro to Kelly Lemming or whatever his name is, but his work with the bass here can not be faulted. Dave plays a great array of riffs, a little less technical from his Megadeth work, but still a fine performance. Jimmy DeGrasso, likewise, does a fantastic job with the sticks.

If you checked out the above YouTube links, you will now have a pretty good idea of the MD.45 sound. Yes, it’s punk, but light weight punk at that. There is a serious lack of punk attitude in this recording but, let’s face it, Dave left that attitude back in the eighties. This record was made during the downtime between “Youthanasia” and “Cryptic Writings”, a period where Megadeth’s music turned as soft as marshmallows.

Surprisingly, though, this record actually entertains me. I know it shouldn’t, but it does. It’s like when you watch a bad movie, and it’s because of how bad the movie is it actually becomes entertaining. Like the movie “Driven”. Now there’s a fucken pathetic movie if ever there was one. But when I saw that movie in the cinemas, I laughed my arse off. Did he just slide around a corner, pick up coins off the road with his inside tires and deliver a track record? Brilliant!

So yes, the music is bad, but strangely entertaining in a way that can’t be explained. It is, for lack of a better description, a fun record. Part of the enjoyment found in this album is the lyrics, which are quite amusing. Who can not enjoy a line like this:

“Something’s funny about a medical physician
Me lying on my back is his favorite position”

Indeed pretty much every song on this album is filled with a wry, humorous jab at society and in many instances these make the songs.

This certainly is not an album for everyone. Hate Dave’s singing? Avoid. Hate punk? Avoid. For everyone else, it’s very definitely a try before you buy. Most people will condemn this as utter crap, but those who don’t will find a pretty damn enjoyable album.

Information
Released: 2004 (remaster)
Label: Capitol
Website: MD.45 MySpace – fansite
Band
~~Lee Ving: vocals, harmonica~~ lost
Dave Mustaine: vocals, guitars
Kelly Lemieux: bass
Jimmy DeGrasso: drums

Tracklist
01. Hell’s Motel
02. Day the Music Died
03. Fight Hate
04. Designer Behavior
05. The Creed
06. My Town
07. Voices
08. Nothing Is Something
09. Hearts Will Bleed
10. No Pain
11. Road Man
12. Chutney (2004 bonus)
13. Segue (2004 bonus)
14. The Creed (Megadeth demo) (2004 bonus)

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